Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Verity Lodge in WA: Freemasonry and Catholicism 1/27

For some odd reason, the last week or so has had more than the usual share of stories come up regarding Freemasonry and Catholicism. As a result, over on Facebook, Brother John Hurst called my attention to a related presentation going on out on the West coast at the end of this month.On Friday, January 27th, 2017, Verity Lodge 59 in Kent, Washington will host a presentation by WB Vincent DiGiulio: Freemasonry and the Catholic Church - What Caused the Schism? Vincent is a Mason and a Catholic, and when he became a member in 1972, he was challenged by his local bishop to find the source of the longstanding dispute between the Church and the fraternity. He was subsequently permitted access to the Vatican Library to research the subject, and self-published his collected historical findings in a book available on Amazon's CreateSpace. (It is a sad side effect of Amazon's print on demand service that such books of any length are expensive, not through greed of the author, but usually just because of the printing process.) In addition to his Masonic membership, he is also a member of the Knights of Columbus. So, papal bulls, canon law, and opinions notwithstanding, he has obviously come to grips with the controversy enough to remain active in the Church and Masonry, and still sleep well at night.The event at Verity Lodge will begin with a Festive Board at 6:30PM ($10 per person), followed by the Stated Communication at 7:30PM, during which WB DiGiulio's presentation will be made. Visiting Master Masons are welcome to attend. The lodge is located at 805 Smith Street, Kent, Washington. For more details, click the graphic above to enlarge it, or visit the lodge website HERE.For the most recent scholarship on the Church's official position and current canon law prohibiting Masonic membership by Catholics, please have a look at Deacon John J. McManus' 2009 presentation at Gate City Lodge 2 in Atlanta, Georgia. CLICK HERE.

3 comments:

Thank you for the good work you do for the Craft, WB Chris. Ironically we had already scheduled this event before the similar stories started to hit the media. One minor edit, our event is scheduled for September 27th. Fraternally, VW Zane McCune, PM

ATTENTION!Kindly sign your comment posts. Anonymous postings on Masonic topics have the same status as cowans and eavesdroppers, as far as I am concerned, and may be deleted if I don't recognize you or if I'm in a grumpy mood.

A mythic past. A visionary future. A legendary brotherhood.

Freemasonry is the largest, oldest and best-known gentleman's fraternity in the world. Historically, it is based on the Medieval stonemason guilds who built the great castles and cathedrals of Europe. Mythologically it is founded upon the building of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, as told in the Old Testament of the Bible. Modern Freemasons likewise use the tools, traditions and terminology of those earlier stonemasons as allegories for building Temples in the hearts of men.

It's said that we are a secret society. We do indeed have secrets—secrets that each individual man has to discover for and about himself.

At its core, Freemasonry is simply an attempt to make the world a better place, one man at a time. For each man, it can become as simple or as complicated as he himself desires.

It's not for everybody.

Maybe it's for you.

"Brother Chris Hodapp's [blog]...is thought provoking and is often the first place on the web where new ideas and matters of interest are posted."

Chris received his higher education at Indiana University, the University of Southern California, Los Angeles Valley College, California State University at Northridge, and Indiana/Purdue University at Indianapolis.

He spent twenty-three years in advertising as a commercial filmmaker for Dean Crow Productions, shooting and editing close to 1,000 commercials, music videos and feature films. He has written scripts for corporate and non-profit clients, and his voice has appeared in countless television and radio commercials.

He was the editor and a contributor in 2004-5 to "Laudable Pursuit: A 21st Century Response to Dwight Smith"by the Knights of the North, a Masonic leadership think-tank focussing on modern lodge solutions. He has written for Indianapolis Monthly, Masonic Magazine, Templar History, the Scottish Rite Journal, the Knight Templar Magazine, the Indiana Freemason , the Phylaxis, and numerous other publications.

Hodapp and Alice Von Kannon developed episode outlines for the History Channel program, Brad Meltzer's Decoded in 2010, and contributed material on conspiracies and secret societies for TruTV and the American Heroes Channel. They have both appeared on National Public Radio, the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and the American Heroes Channel - most recently in 2017 on America: Facts vs Fiction.

Chris and Alice live in Indianapolis with their very French poodle Wiley, who has them both answering to basic commands.

M.A.T.S.O.L.

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Instantly identify lodges in all mainstream and Prince Hall U.S. jurisdictions, Canada, and more than 50 other countries. Determine a lodge's Masonic regularity immediately, and whether your own grand lodge is in amity with theirs, all on your phone.Apart from my own books, I don't advertise products here as a rule, but this service is absolutely free of charge, created by and for Freemasons, and with the cooperation of grand lodges all around the world.

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If you are a Freemason and are lifting material from this website without attribution, shame on you.